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A new blog and new journal for 2011

As I mentioned in my last post, Brooks Simpson, has chosen to leave the group at Civil Warriors to pursue personal and professional projects. He has started his own blog up, called Crossroads, which is linked in the sidebar as well. I look forward to seeing what he produces in the coming months. His posting on the Dakota uprising that occurred in 1862-3, is particularly interesting to me given that I live in North Dakota and am within a couple of hours drive of sites associated with that conflict.

In addition to this new blog, a new journal will make its début in March. The University of North Carolina Press will publish The Journal of the Civil War Era, which will become the flagship journal of the Society of Civil War Historians. I look forward to seeing what this journal offers in terms of new directions on the war and the overall period surrounding it. I urge anyone with an interest in the conflict to consider subscribing to the journal and joining the Society.

All in all, 2011 will be a great year for Civil War studies, as we begin in earnest the 150th anniversary of secession, which will ignite some feelings, the anniversary of the Confederacy’s creation, Lincoln’s first inauguration, Bull Run, Wilson’s Creek, etc. I hope to attend a couple major reenacting events in Missouri this coming year, but we’ll see. I have a couple of items to finish this semester before I head to Illinois for Christmas, but I will attempt to remember to post later this month on South Carolina’s secession. Until next time, keep researching and studying.

About Daniel Sauerwein

I am a graduate student in History at the University of North Dakota pursuing my PhD in History with a minor in Geography. My primary historical interests are military history, specifically early US and the Civil War.

2 thoughts on “A new blog and new journal for 2011”

Do you suppose there are people in Germany who celebrate the birth of the Nazi Party? It was started in 1919. That party is illegal in Germany. According to Wikipedia “victorious Allies outlawed the Nazi Party, its subsidiary organizations, and most of its symbols and emblems (including the swastika in most manifestations) throughout Germany and Austria; this prohibition remains in force.”

Here in the United States we have a different perspective on bad behavior. We have allowed the Ku Klux Klan to march through Skokie, Illinois, a Jewish neighborhood of Chicago. Confederate flags can be bought and displayed anywhere. Thus tonight in Columbia, South Carolina there will be a “Secession Ball” commemorating South Carolina’s decision exactly 150 years ago to secede from the United States of America.

Southerners should be ashamed of what they did but they are not. The Civil War resulted in 110,000 killed in action and a total 620,000 dead (per ABC News).

First, I had to find out who you were by going to your blog, since your comment did not provide a name. Now, regarding your comment about my “gloifying an ugly part of American history,” I have no control over what Charleston, SC does to “remember” the events of 150 years ago. You took my post way out of context. I am a historian, who has done graduate work on the war and simply stated that it will be an exciting year for Civil War studies, with the key word being studies. How is that glorifying the war in any way? Yes, the war certainly has ugly parts to it, but also there are things worth glorifying that resulted from it, like increased opportunities for African Americans and the ending of a great moral wrong on our nation. If anything is to be glorified, it is the triumph of the Union emerging from a great conflagration to eventually become a major world power.

I said what I said because the next few years will be exciting in the historical community. If you were up on the scholarship instead of coming here to trash me in one sentence, you would know that scholars are always looking for new approaches to understand our past, including the “ugly” Civil War. There will be many more books written on the war during this period because of the anniversary.

Your example of the Nazis does not compare. America was emerging from a war with other Americans (if you follow Lincoln’s rationale for Reconstruction) and the former Confederate states were being prepared for readmission to the Union. There was no party to ban. Further, the level of destruction does not compare. While slavery was a horrible abomination, the Confederates were not preaching the destruction of blacks, as the Nazis did to Jews and others. In addition, Germany was defeated by foreign powers, while the Confederacy was never recognized as a separate nation. Consider that for a long time after, the war was referred to as “the rebellion.”

In closing, while I appreciate comments, do not accuse me of engaging in something that I have not done. I am not a neo-Confederate (I am originally from Illinois and have ancestors who fought for the Union), but a historian with a passion for what I do, which happens to include the Civil War, and was merely expressing my excitement over what others in my field are likely to produce in the coming year and beyond on the war. Your points illustrate a fundamental difference between America and the rest of the world. While I find the KKK abhorrent and feel that the “Secession Ball” may be a bit over the top, it is some of the price I must pay for living in a free society. Given that you are so geographically removed from the war, I hope you dive into some of the recent writings on the war and the debates over history and memory before commenting on other Civil War blogs. I thank you for your comment and the opportunity to discuss your points.